Olivia Chow has become the second mayoral candidate to promise stepped-up tree planting Toronto — but says her plan to plant an extra 1 million trees over the next decade will cost taxpayers nothing.

An emailed release from Chow’s campaign on Friday, following the Green Living Show, said Chow would start by planting an extra 100,000 trees in 2015, following a year in which the city’s tree canopy was devastated by “storms, beetles and Rob Ford.”

Chow said that as mayor, she’d pay for the new trees and hire 500 youth over five years by “changing the way polluting businesses pay for the city to treat environmentally harmful discharges in the sewage system.”

Businesses currently pay the city to treat waste water for chemicals they release into the system, such as nitrogen and phosphorous. But Chow’s campaign says the city comes out behind in the end, losing $3.5 million annually.

Chow would take actions to recoup those funds and put them toward planting trees, the email said. In all, the goal would be to plant 1 million trees over 10 years.

“Our trees clean more than a million tons of carbon a year, help with storm runoff and deliver cleaner air by filtering air pollution,” Chow was quoted as saying. “They also make our city better and more liveable, and we deserve better than a mayor who thinks they don’t count.”

Tory proposed doubling the city’s tree-planting budget, adding $7 million annually, for a total of $14 million, and aiming to see 3.8 million trees planted, by the city and partners, over 10 years.

Chow and Tory have both distanced themselves on this issue from Mayor Rob Ford, who has opposed using any taxpayer money to plant trees and in January tabled a motion at city council to cut all current funding.

The city’s tree canopy, previously at about 28 per cent — still far from the official goal of 40 per cent — took a hit after the December ice storm and is additionally threatened by the emerald ash borer.

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